Newbie with Type (2)

[fbs1000]

Morning all, I've finally took the plunge and thought I would sign up so I can get some advise from you all 🙂

I am 38 Years old and was told I was Type 2 about 2 Years ago, After my first GTT test I was 9.9 and was told with diet and excercise I should be ok, Me being me didn't listen and finally ended up with a GTT od 14 ish. Like I said previously I've had Type 2 for about 2 Years now and I've never had it under control, Mostly this was down to me not taking my tablets, not excercising and eating pretty much what I wanted when i wanted. It's about time I booked my ideas up and faced that I have an illness that wont go away, So for the last 3 - 4 weeks I've tried really hard to get this under control. My medication is as follows :
2 x Glicazide in the Morning and 2 x at night
1 x Met forum in the morning and 1 x at night.

When I wake in the morning and test my blood I am hitting 14.2 ish, I take my tablets as above and have a bowl of fruit and fiber for breakfast, at dinner I will have something like a Brown bread chicken salad sandwich and will drink mostly coffee through out the day. When I return home about 6:15 I check my blood again and it's about 9.9ish (Unsure what it is through-out the day as I dont check), I have my dinner and take the tablets again and check it some 2 hours later and it's gone up to 15 ish, I can never get the magical figure of 5 - 7 :-(. How long does it take your body to adjust to the "Life changing" ie eating better and taking your tablets? I'm guessing this is not over night, but I've trying really hard for the last 5 days and not alot has changed. Albeit I have been pretty ill for the last week and someone did tell me that being ill can effect your sugar levels quite a bit. I believe the tablets are not working as they should or I'm doing something really wrong here : Looks like insulin is the way to go but unsure if I want to be injecting 4 times a day. What is strange is that I never feel bad with high blood sugars, 6 weeks ago I checked I was 24.3 and on my monitor is stated check "Ketones", those were 0.1 but I felt fine - Why is this ? is it because I've had type for Years un-detected and my body has a very high threshold now?

Cheers all, I know there's a lot of questions here but I'm starting to get very worried now about this. Normally these kind of posts only generate 1 or 2 replies. Please can everyone who reads this thread reply with something/advise please so I can get a good understanding of what I should be doing, eating etc etc and when please.
Cheers - have a good day - Richard

 

[Steff]

Hi Richard firstly a warm welcome to the forum, if i can tell you anything its get your hands on this book for type 2s its just brillaint http://www.amazon.co.uk/Type-Diabet...8048/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1336983945&sr=8-1.

You mention your morning levels alot of us have bother with those time of day levels,many have trouble with cereal and things like grilled bacon with scrambled or poached egg helps i was one of those for ages would get double figures but luckily im down to single figures now and that brekkie seems to help.

With regards the tablets, i had to wait about 14 days before i saw a real effect but im talking about the met im not personally on Glicazide..
Sorry i cant answer all your questions but others will be along soon to help you x

 

[Copepod]

Welcome Richard

As Steff says, tablets usually take a few weeks to take effect. Usually, people are prescribed tablets for a month, then aksed to return to monitor effects. Even if you weren't told to return, then another appointment would be appropriate now. You mentioned being ill recently - if you mean an infection, then you're right, that can increase blood glucose levels. In food, the key thing is to record carbohydrate content alongside blood blood glucose levels - these records should be used by whoever is precribing your medication to get the roght regime for you.

The other important aspects in type 2 diabetes, as I'm sure you know, are weight and exercise / activity. Many people find that achieving and maintaining an appropriate weight (eg BMI 20 - 25) and being more physically active improves how they feel and makes their diabetes easier to manage, sometimes reducing medication doses. There is a Weight Loss Group section of this forum, which has lots of information and support you may find useful.

 

[Northerner]

Hi Richard, welcome to the forum 🙂 Don't worry about all the questions - that's (one of ) the reasons we're here! It's good to hear that you have decided to take control and get to grips with controlling your diabetes, but it does take time so it does require a degree of patience! 🙂

The first thing to note is that your 'baseline' levels are pretty high, so all your subsequent tests throughout the day are likely to be on the high side too - what you really need to do is observe the difference in levels before eating and one or two hours after eating so that you know how a particular meal has affected you. It's good that you are testing, but it needs to be done in an efficient way to provide the best information that can then inform future decisions about food.

I would recommend starting a food diary and noting down the carb content of everything you consume during the day, including any drinks. You can read the packets or use a handy guide like the Collins Gem - Carb Counter. This will give you a good picture of what you are actually eating and help to highlight areas where a simple substitution of a more 'diabetes-friendly' option would give immediate improvements with little pain! You should also embark on a programme of structured testing - Test,Review, Adjust by Alan S is a good approach to use - and record the numbers alongside you meals in the food diary.

Regarding how you feel at these high levels, and ketones: your body has become used to these high levels so it doesn't realise that they are potentially dangerous for your health. As you bring down your levels towards more normal levels you may experience some symptoms of lowblood sugar, even though your levels are not yet low enough to cause concern - this is your brain being confused and fooled into thinking you are lower than you should be. In time, these symptoms will only appear at lower and lower levels. As for ketones, some meters flag this up when you are above a certain level because for people on insulin it can be dangerous to be so high and ketones can rise to very high and dangerous levels. It is not generally a problem for someone who is still producing their own insulin, as is the case with you. 🙂

I would recommend reading Jennifer's Advice and Maggie Davey's letter, and getting a copy of the excellent Type 2 Diabetes: The First Year by Gretchen Becker, all of which should help you really understand what it is all about and how to tackle things.

Regular exercise will really help improve your insulin sensitivity and help to bring your levels down, so anything you can do each day will help.

Regarding diet - if you test as suggested, you may find that cereals are not suitable for you fr breakfast - they may appear healthy, but can also have a big impact on your blood sugar levels. Something low-carb like scrambled eggs would probably be much more suitable, but some people find porridge is good, or Burgen soya and linseed bread, toasted as a couple of suggestions - but use your meter to see how your body tolerates different things so you know where adjustments need to be made. I would recommend getting a copy of The GL Diet for Dummies for a good introduction to a way of eating that is very 'diabetes-friendly', as it explains how to combine foods that will release their energy slowly and steadily and be kind to your blood sugar levels.

I think that's it! Please do ask any questions you have - nothing is considered 'silly', and we are all here to elp each other. I look frward to hearing more from you 🙂

 

[RachelT]

Hi Richard, i'm in a similar place to you, except that i take two metformin in the morning and 1 at night. What are your HbA1c results like? I got a reading of 28 the other week, but it was only an hour after an extremely unwise breakfast choice. The point is your doctor will probably tell you that it's your HbA1c that you need to have between 5 and 7, and it's not the same as the test you do when you prick your finger as it measures the level of glucose in your blood over a 3 month period rather than in that finger at that instant. My finger tests are hardly ever below 8, but my HbA1c is...dammit i can't remember but it was pretty good considering it took in Christmas. Think it was 6.9...You blood sugar will go up and down like a yo-yo, but as long as it doesn't stay up and doesn't drop down far enough to make you feel unwell (hypo), then your doctor will probably be quite happy not to put you on insulin.
There's quite a lot of other options between Metformin+Gliclazide and Insulin, including new drugs such as Byetta and Victoza and the Glyptins (hey, folks...Victoza and the Glyptins, sounds like a diabetes themed pop group...😉 ) it's just a matter of finding out what works for you. It's not a failure on your part if you're on more medication than the next diabetic.

Rachel

 

[pippaandben]

You sound exactly like me. I was dx April last year and after 5 months on Metformin - modified release 1000mg twice daily my levels had gone into the 20s. This really shocked me as by this time I had read so much (too much!) I knew it was bad. Had gliclazide added - initially 1 but now up to max of 4 a day.
You do have to allow at least 2 weeks for them to start having an effect.
And the increase was based on what levels I had reached. As I was in high teens most of the time I was also given ketone strips to use if 2 consecutive tests were above 15. I have been on the 4 since first week of April and now if I get a 10 it is high for me. Yesterday scared myself with 3.9 my lowest ever.
Testing 2 hours after meals best guide. Do note what you are eating as well

Personally I cannot eat Weetabix in morning but can at lunchtime. Bacon sandwich - on soya/linseed bread suits me and usually before lunch is 5-6. It has taken a long time. Don't despair - but do have a chat with DSN or GP about upping your current meds. My Dr was also talking about insulin but there are still other meds available before then.
I have been allowed to test 5-6 times a day over the past 6 week - and given the strips and needle cassettes to do it. Change of attitude caused by having to see different GP and having a fungal infection of my feet - diabetes related he said. Now really feel he is on my side and the attitude of the DSN has also changed to being far more supportive especially in discussing my results.

Come back here any time and ask any questions you like - I have found nothing but good support and advise to help me over low periods.

 

[linda metcalfe]

Hi Richard welcome i am type 2 but on insulin i inject twice in the morning and once at tea time. I find fruit is the worse thing for me it sends my levels high some food you think is healthy but not if i have an indian takeaway it sends it high but if i make it myself its ok. Thats the key make evreything fresh so you know whats in it im really lucky ive not had a high reading but i do look after myself and thats what you have to good luck just takes time but im sure you will get there read all labels

 

[fbs1000]

Guys - Thank you sooooooooooooo much for your replies it means a lot to me 🙂. I may of missed a few points in the last thread (Not sure) I was diagnosed some three Years ago and have always taken my tablets, ok it's only since recently I've decided to eat correctly. I'm going to see the D/Nurse next week and will report all my findings to her and see what happens then. I just feel ill all the time at the moment and it's getting me down so much. I'm 38 and I feel I'm in a body of an 80 Year old, I'm not exactly over weight but a few ponds lost wouldnt go a miss I guess. Oh why can't I have an op and be given a new pancreases or something 🙂.

Richard X

 

[Mark T]

Welcome to the forum Richard 🙂

 

[ando]

The only thing I would add is to talk to the practice nurse. Mine is great, you don't feel like you're wasting a doctors time but they have time to go through options.
Any questions - give them a ring. I used to hold off 'bothering' them, but that's what they are there for.
Good luck.

 

[Andy HB]

Hello Richard, I just wanted to welcome you to the forum.

I think the earlier posts have been very comprehensive so can't add anything of importance just yet!

Andy 🙂